The Sports Tightrope: Balancing Your Content
Official websites are now a major player in the sporting landscape. Sports teams now see themselves as media organizations – offering news that competes with more traditional outlets such as print and television. (And they both have enough problems as it is.)
I am the Managing Editor for one of the world’s most famous soccer clubs. Arsenal Football Club pride themselves on history, tradition and integrity as much as on-field success.
We have also developed highly-successful digital and social media strategies. Our numbers stack up alongside the most successful sporting franchises in the world.
We certainly engage with our fans. But, in the modern world, what form should that engagement take?
Is the ‘homer’ now transparent and irrelevant?
Or, in a digital world in which Twitter has lifted speculation, snap-judgment and bar-room debate (forever the currency of the sports fan) on to a higher plane, is it more important than ever?
That is the question I will explore.
Presenters
I am responsible for editorial strategy at Arsenal Football Club, London.
My team of 15 staffers (producers, editors, cameramen, writers, sub-editors) along with a gaggle of freelancers create content across all club channels -– TV, website, apps, print and social media.
I still contribute significantly as a writer, interviewer and broadcaster. But these days I concentrate on managing relationships with internal and external stakeholders while exploring new areas for content development.
I have spoken on digital strategy at conferences around Europe in the past few years.
I have 10 years experience in digital sports media, 20 years experience in sports journalism and a lifetime’s experience as a sports fan.
Monday, March 11
